


A Little Twist in the Right Direction

by DestielHasThePhoneBox



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Hunter Castiel, M/M, Professor Castiel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-20
Updated: 2013-07-03
Packaged: 2017-12-15 13:12:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/849938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DestielHasThePhoneBox/pseuds/DestielHasThePhoneBox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Dean drops Sam off at the apartment, neither of them expect to find a lead on the thing that killed their mother. They especially weren't expecting Jess to be the one to fight off the attacking demon, or to find out that she and her hunter turned professor cousin may know more about this than either of the Winchester brothers could have dreamed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Plot Twist

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this is from the prompt: "Born into a family of hunters, Jess fights off the demon long enough that Sam gets back, and together they defeat it. Jess introduces her cousin Castiel to the Winchesters, and the four of them go looking for some answers…" found on destielficprompts.tumblr.com
> 
> Sorry it took me so long to get it started!

Professor Novak was probably Sam's favorite professor. It was a fact that had Jess laughing at him constantly and his classmates staring at him like he's totally crazy, because Dr. Novak wasn’t exactly what one might call riveting. On the contrary, his lectures were long and boring, filled with his monotone voice broken only by the changing of slides every once in a while. And yeah, even Sam could agree that you had to be pretty freaking passionate about American mythologies to enjoy lectures like that. That wasn't what Sam liked about the awkward mythology professor though. It was the fact that he was correct. He actually knew what he was talking about, giving information on American "myths" that Sam new to be fact.

That wasn't exactly a reason he could tell his friends or his girlfriend of course.

He had taken his first class with Novak in sophomore year, enough time having passed since he left hunting behind that the idea didn't make him nauseous and also with the thought in mind that it might be a laugh and an easy A. It wasn't. A laugh or an easy A that is. In fact it turned out to be a seriously hard class that Sam barely managed to pull out an A- for. But damn had he learned a lot. It was true that Dr. Novak really wasn’t the best lecturer (his page on Rate My Professor had gotten several different comments about what a great class it was if you have insomnia), but he knew his stuff and Sam really had to respect that. 

He wasn’t even really sure what was wrong with him when he found himself signing up for the next class, or the one after that, but when his advisor told him he was on track to get a minor in the subject… well, that was that. Professor Novak was talking about all the things Sam had read about in his dad’s journal, all the things he had seen with his own eyes, all with an authoritative tone that made Sam wonder if the professor thought they were myths at all. Made him wonder if Professor Novak knew. 

It wasn’t like it was the sort of thing he could ask of course. A lot of people knew a lot of things without realizing they could be real. Novak taught his students all kinds of protections against different kinds of evils, actually made everyone learn an exorcism once (everyone had thought that was so funny), but while all of them now knew how to protect from skinwalkers and demons, none of them had any idea that it might ever be useful. Sam really hoped that they would remember what they learned if they ever needed it…

He doubted it. He was also pretty sure that Professor Novak really did know what he was talking about, but he never asked. In a weird sort of way, the young professor was Sam’s only tie to the hunting world these days. From Novak, as well as some of the other professors and his own research, he knew more of the lore than his dad did (probably). He wasn’t exactly Bobby but…

Aside from that though, his pre-law degree was coming along nicely, and he had to say that he really loved it. Where the mythology classes were something he couldn’t help but want to continue, couldn’t help but think they might be useful some day, law was something he really enjoyed. It was his true passion, the thing he really had to admit got him excited to get out of bed and go to classes in the morning. Jess teased him about it, questioned why he was still taking the myth classes when he didn’t seem to really like them all that much and he honestly didn’t know how to answer her. How did he tell her that the reason was he thought the two might end up working really well together? How could he tell her that having some knowledge of the lore and a law degree could seriously help the hunters out there, even though he knew he couldn’t be one himself if he wanted to retain his sanity?

He couldn’t explain it, so he didn’t. He just shrugged, smiled and said, “I do like them” or “it’s a good escaped from all the law stuff”. Whether she bought it or not, he couldn’t be sure, but she never pushed it. Just shook her head in that way that told him she was thinking, hopefully fondly, “I’ll never get him.” 

So law was his real passion, but his mythology professor was his favorite. He hadn’t heard from his dad in almost four years, his brother in two. He had to work stupid hours to pay his rent, and his girlfriend still had no idea what his life had really been like for the first eighteen years. His life was weird, but a good sort of weird. He liked it. He liked the fact that he was probably going to law school next year, that he and Jess were probably going to get married. He liked to hope that he could have a relationship with his family that wasn’t just about hunting, that his dad and older brother would be at his graduation and be proud of him. 

Sam was an optimist. 

And then Dean broke into their apartment in the middle of the night. Just a few short words, and Sam’s life changed yet again. 

“Dad’s on a hunting trip and he hasn’t been home in a few days.”


	2. Brady

Breathing out a deep sigh, Sam pushed himself up the stairs to the apartment he shared with Jess. It wasn’t perfect—it was small and half of the appliances should have been replaced twenty years ago—but it was theirs and he had a certain fondness for it. He was just glad to be home now. Part of him really had enjoyed being back with his brother again, doing what he had grown up doing, but this was home now. This was where he could expect to see the woman he loved, hopefully waiting for him... He thought he could smell cookies baking somewhere in the building and hoped it was coming from his apartment. Jessica bakes some seriously killer cookies. 

He took a moment just to imagine what Jessica was doing right now. Maybe she was studying for the organic chemistry test he knew she had coming up, hopefully at the tiny table they had managed to cram into the kitchen while she waited for the cookies to be done. Or maybe she had the TV on and he could join her, have a beer and try to push all thoughts of ghosts and a missing father out of his head. The one thing he did not imagine seeing when he finally made it in the door was Jess struggling, held against the wall by some invisible force. And... and his friend Brady?

Ignoring the door now left open behind him, Sam leapt at Brady without thinking it through. His friend—okay, ex-friend, obviously, but he could save the what-the-hell moment for later—turned just before he made contact, his eyes solid black. Before he could fully process what was happening, Sam felt his own back hit the wall behind him, his throat held as if by a hand. 

“Sam, you’re home early,” Brady said, a sneer twisting his lips into an expression Sam wasn’t used to. “You see, me and Jess were just in the middle of something.” 

Sam gasped for breath, tried to think of a way out of this, but nothing came to mind. He couldn’t reach the knife in his pocket and he didn’t know what he would do even if he did. It wasn’t a person pinning him to the wall. He couldn’t just punch the bastard and be done with it, and he didn’t know what could kill it. 

Movement over Brady’s shoulder brought Sam’s attention back to where Jessica was still struggling on the wall. 

“Exorcizamos te...” she started, her voice low and grating sounding as she fought for breath. Brady’s little smile warped into a mask of rage and Sam had to admit that he didn’t know what was happening for a moment until it clicked. That was the demon exorcism that Professor Novak made all his students learn. It was real. 

She got out another two words, “omnis immundus,” before Brady held out his hand and closed it into a fist, cutting of her airway. 

“Oh ho, plot twist,” he hissed, no amusement in his voice now. “White bread Jessica Moore isn’t so normal after all...”

Before the demon could get another word in, Sam continued where Jess had left off, speaking fast. “Spiritus, omnis satanica protestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, et secta diabolica—ah!” 

The invisible hand that had been holding him by the throat now constricted his airway, cutting him off as well. Brady opened his mouth to say something else, but another person stormed into the room, firing off a shot at the demon before he managed anything. When that didn’t seem to deter him all that much, Dean pulled the trigger twice more before finally looking over at his brother. The third shot, fired straight at Brady’s face, did the trick, distracting him enough that both Sam and Jess fell to the ground, no longer held up by magic. Sam couldn’t express how relieved he was that his older brother had somehow known to come and save them—partially because he was having trouble breathing.

Jess pulled herself together before Sam did, choking out more words in Latin. Dean looked at her quizzically, then back at the demon and finally over at Sam. Instead of answering his brother’s unspoken question, Sam joined in with his girlfriend. Brady had begun twisting and clawing at his own throat. Just before they could finish, he pulled himself together enough to gasp out a grating, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Sammy. You’ll never know the truth about your mother...” 

Sam paused in his recitation, but Jess didn’t even blink before practically shouting out the last line: “libertáte, te rogámus, audi nos!”   
Black smoke erupted from Brady’s mouth, surging up to the ceiling and then out one of a partially opened window. Brady fell to the ground, unconscious or dead, Sam couldn’t be sure. Instead of checking on his friend though, he ran to Jessica, needing to reassure himself that she was okay. 

“Jessica, oh god, are you okay?” he gasped, his voice still raspy from being just about choked to death. She stood shakily and nodded. 

“Yeah,” she responded, her voice as scratchy as his. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She looked at him searchingly for a moment before returning the question. “And you? Sam, are you all right?” 

He swallowed, trying to make his throat stop throbbing, and nodded in response. Behind him, Dean coughed loudly and announced, “Uh, looks like the kid’s okay. Prolly gonna be traumatized, but that thing didn’t kill him, so...”  
Sam turned around and met his brother’s eyes, trying to communicate silently that he was thankful, but Dean was waving his words away before he could even open his mouth to speak. 

“Okay, you two gonna explain to me what the hell just happened?” Dean asked, looking up from Brady’s still unconscious form. 

“It was a demon,” Sam told him. Dean’s eyes widened and Sam continued, “Dean, I think that was the thing that killed Mom.”


End file.
